‘Kid’ Yamamoto vs. Kanehara & Other Bouts Announced for Dynamite

With the biggest night in Japanese combat sports just over two
weeks away, K-1 and Dream parent company Fighting and Entertainment
Group announced seven new matchups for the 2009 installment of
Dynamite at the Saitama Super Arena on New Year's Eve.

As anticipated, six of the new fights feature a Dream versus
Sengoku theme, pitting fighters from Japan's two big-ticket
promotions against each other.

Outside the featherweight division, Strikeforce heavyweight
champion Alistair
Overeem will take on durable Japanese heavyweight Kazuyuki
Fujita. Veteran welterweights Hayato "Mach" Sakurai and
Akihiro
Gono will also square off, and 2004 Olympic judo silver
medalist Hiroshi
Izumi will look to get his first career victory against untamed
pro-wrestler Katsuyori
Shibata.

The thematic matchmaking was an expected device, as the rebranded
Sengoku Raiden Championship opted to cancel its slated Dec. 31 card
at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo after being unable to secure a
network television deal to air the event live in Japan. Following
the subsequent departure of executive Takahiko Kokuho, with the
promotion's immediate future in a state of flux, parent company
World Victory Road allowed for its talents to be loaned out for the
annual Dynamite card.

The seven new fights bring the total of announced bouts to 14. FEG
president Sadaharu Tanigawa stated that he was hoping for 18 or 19
fights on the card and wants to have the additional contests
official by later this week.